6 Magnificent Manga Set in Victorian England

The Ghost and the Lady, by Kazuhiro Fujita
This manga starts out in the Black Museum, the archive of criminal memorabilia in Scotland Yard, as a visitor arrives to inspect at a remarkable artifact: two bullets that fused after colliding head-on. This leads to a dramatic ghost story about a duelist who haunted the Drury Lane Theater in order to get away from the din of the shadow-like creatures that haunt all humans—creatures only he can see, until he gets a visit from Florence Nightingale. Yes, that Florence Nightingale. And things just get more baroque from there. It’s a stylishly drawn, if rather dark, story. The series is just three volumes long, and Kodansha has published the first as a lovely hardback that would not look out of place on a Victorian bookshelf. And if the idea of the Black Museum sounds intriguing, here’s a bit of good news: It’s a real thing, and Gordon Honeycombe has written a book about it, Dark Secrets of the Black Museum: 1835-1985.

Emma, by Kaoru Mori
The story of a maid in love with the scion of a wealthy family, Emma shows the elegant side of the Victorian Era. It starts with Emma, a girl who is apparently alone in the world, being taken in as a maid by an older woman. When she meets William, the elder son of a nouveau-riche family, they take a liking to each other—but such a romance is unthinkable according to the mores of the time. The first part of the story takes place mainly in London, where Emma and William visit the Crystal Palace and go to the opera, and William hosts an Indian friend with a huge entourage of elephants and servant girls. Later, the scene shifts to a country home, where Emma is part of a larger group of household help with its own intrigues, and she mingles with Bohemian artist types. Although there is a love story at the heart of it, Emma is not quite a romance; there are plenty of other characters to take the focus off the main couple, and side trips for Mori to indulge her love of Victorian culture. The art is superb; it’s well worth a read on those grounds alone. The series first came out in English in the mid-2000s, but Yen Press has recently released a new edition in hardcover two-in-one volumes.

Black Butler, by Yana Toboso
Black Butler mixes elegance and supernatural action as Sebastian, the butler par excellence, serves up tea and dainty treats on a silver tray to his employer, wealthy orphan Ciel Phantomhive, and turns his superb fighting skills on a series of bad guys. Ciel and Sebastian are secret agents of a sort for Queen Victoria herself, and the series delves into the dark side of the era with a Jack the Ripper story arc, as well as jaunts to the English countryside and a mysterious forest in Germany. While some of the details don’t ring true, the series as a whole has a noir-ish feel that makes it quite addictive. It’s long (23 volumes and still going), but breaks up nicely into story arcs so you can read it in smaller chunks.

The Earl and the Fairy, by Ayuko
Ayuko puts a Victorian spin on a shoujo fantasy story with the tale of Lydia Carlton, a “fairy doctor” who can see fairies—a trait that has almost disappeared from the general population. In fact, most people don’t believe in them at all, but Lydia has a fairy companion of her own, who looks remarkably like a cat. Summoned to London by a letter from her father, Lydia is kidnapped by one handsome young man and then rescued by another, Edgar Ashenbert, a descendant of the Blue Knight and a ruler of the fairy kingdom. He wants her to help him find the sword that will prove he is the Earl of the Fairies. Their quest takes them to a fairy island and then back to London, facing down various supernatural beings along the way. The series is just four volumes long and is drawn in a charming shoujo style.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 1: Phantom Blood, by Hirohiko Araki
The first arc of Hirohiko Araki’s tale of the Joestar family is set in 1880. Wealthy teen Jonathan Joestar’s comfortable life is shaken up when his father adopts orphaned Dio Brando. A wily and ruthless sort, Dio plans to shove Jonathan aside and become the heir to his adopted father’s mansion and fortune, but Jonathan, who initially seems like a bit of a pushover, gathers allies from the streets of London (including former thug Robert E. O. Speedwagon) and fights back. If you like street fighting, Victorian mansion fighting, fighting in general, and weird artifacts, this is the manga for you! Viz is publishing the series in stylish hardback volumes; this arc is three volumes long. Subsequent arcs follow later descendants of the Joestar family through several decades.

Young Miss Holmes, by Kaoru Shintani
Like Alice in Wonderland, the Sherlock Holmes stories provide endless fodder for manga creators. This series is a retelling of some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original tales, with the addition of a new character: Holmes’s 10-year-old niece Christie Hope. Christie basically works out each mystery herself, with the help of two seriously badass maids, and it’s really fun to see the pieces fall into place—whether or not you have read the originals. The dialogue is sharp and snappy, and the series is well drawn, making it a good choice for tween readers and a great light read for older folks.
What’s your favorite East-meets-West European/Japanese manga fusion?